Craft beer in Morocco

Huvudmeny

When is the first craft beer served in Morocco? The interest for quality beer is high but the supply limited to about 20 kinds of lager beer. After being the first one to make craft beer in Burkina Faso I am hoping to do the same in Morocco.

I am searching for a restaurant or small business that wants to have a small scale microbrewery/kitchen brewery making craft beer for interested customers. Like my former brewery, Brasserie Artisanale De Ouagadougou, production was less than 200 liters a month with focus on a having a wide range of styles more than mass production. Styles such as Ale, India Pale Ale, Porter, Saison and Belgian styled beers were brewed and served at Restaurant L Annexe in Ouagadougou.

It’s all about passion for beer and lots of experimentation as well as use of local ingredients to find unique taste combinations and beers to surprise with. Beer is made with barley malt, hops, yeast and water but can be combined in so many ways to obtain your special flavor. Also water, sugars, spices and fruits can added to the brew. There are hundreds of thousands of beers in the world and you can take any recipe and brew with a slight change of mineral levels in your water and the beer will be tasting different.

Wide range of beers by Brasserie Artisanalde De Ouagadougou

With bricklaying as a hobby, the name was easy!

Drink Better, not more!

Craft beer is about quality and passion. The craft beer trend is moving all over the world and as a result; a healthier beer culture. Less focus on getting drunk on cheap lager beer and more focus on taste and different styles of beer. The closest craft beer served is in Ceuta and after that it’s Ghana, Burkina Faso and Kenya. Spain has hundreds of craft breweries and there as well, people tend to prefer to pay more for a tasty craft beer.

The water of Volta – Ouaga Dry Saison – Ouaga3000 – Water of Volta ( Craft beers by Brasserie Artisanale de Ouagadougou)

The craft beer boom is spreading all over the world. Hundreds of craft breweries are opening every year in Europe. From small countries like Norway and Lithuania, bars and pubs are expanding their number of taps every year. Also the old beer nations like Belgium, Czech Republic and Germany is part of the boom, despite their strong traditions. The new trend with IPA, Porter, Sour and hoppy beers is still less than a few percentage of the global beer market but making an important impact for people interested in beer. The leading craft beer nation is the US with about 4000 breweries with a big export all over the world.

As an example; In Sweden where the boom is happening right now, 2-3 breweries are opening every month and there are 200+ craft breweries, together they produce less than 5 % of the beer market.

Craft beer drinkers spend much money and time to find and taste new beers. Many are using the app Untappd to review their beers, exchange input from others about new beers. Craft beer is made with passion and much more ingredients. Prices are normally double or trippled compared with regular lagers like Heineken, Carlsberg and Bitburger. When a glass of Bitburger costs 2.5 euro in Germany, a regular IPA is 4 euro and a porter 6 euro. In Norway a regular lager costs 5 euro while the cheapest IPA starts from 10 euro and ranges up to 14 euro.

Craft beer in Lithuania, Hop Doc serves local craft with big beers in the city of Kaunas

Beer festivals are popular and the small crowd of beer enthusiasts is traveling the world to explore new beers and meet other fellow enthusiasts. The number one craft beer nation is the US and cities like San Diego have several hundred breweries and the quality is high. It´s much more expensive but not a matter of class, all craft beer enthusiasts are bonded through their interest in beer.

This small pub outside Warsaw has 20 beers on tap and also on tap number 20, they serve the Passion Feber IPA on tap from a Swedish Brewery.

Serville craft Brewery in Nairobi, Kenya

This is a new brewery in Nairobi, Kenya, making four kinds of craft beer. There are three craft breweries in Kenya and craft beer nation number two after South Africa with more than 210 breweries.

These are the first craft beers served in Burkina Faso by Brasserie Artisanale De Ouagadougou, which opened in 2017. Later on in 2017 another two craft breweries opened. Burkina Gaso is craft beer nation number three in Africa. More about Africas craft beers at www.beerafrica.com

The Craft Beer trend is reflecting a higher awareness and interest in quality and variety. Instead of buying a pack of 24 cheap lagers, many prefers buying a bag with 8 different beers to sample and discuss with friends. People come to the craft beer bars to discuss the latest beers, not to get drunk. Drink better, not more !

Craft beer is booming in many countries. In Africa it´s South Africa and Kenya that is leading the boom. South Africa has more than 210 craft breweries, most of them very small and just serving beer to a hand full of restaurants. Kenya has three craft breweris. Burkina Faso has two craft breweries and Namibia has one. www.beerafrica.com is monitoring the development.

Beer in Burkina Faso

Compared with Spain and their 300+ craft breweries it´s a small wave. The biggest craft beer nation is the US with over 4000 craft breweries. There are more than 50 nations in Africa and only four or five of them serves craft beer. Big multinational breweries are dominating Africa with lager beers.